The San Diego Padres' ongoing quest for a World Series (or at least a playoff title). "You know that many runners enter a race, but only one of them wins the prize. So run to win! Athletes work hard to win a crown that cannot last, but we do it for a crown that will last forever." 1 Corinthians 9:24-25

Rocky Game But A Win

Chase Headley: Baseball America High Class-A All-Star 2006. Baseball America Double-A All-Star 2007. MLB.com Double-A Offensive Player of the Year 2007. Now he’s been in the major leagues for almost two years, and that player that he was in the minor leagues is finally coming out.

We had lost the first game of the series against the Rockies on Monday, so we definitely needed this game. Wade LeBlanc started the game for us, and he was excellent. He went six innings, only allowing two runs and two walks. He was really, really good.

In the bottom of the fourth, Jerry Hairston tripled in Chase Headley, who had singled to start the inning.

The Rockies got their two runs in the top of the fifth, which was disappointing.

I’m a Padres fan, and I always try to keep the faith, because these guys have proved to me over and over again that they will fight hard to win the game no matter what. But I have to admit, things were not looking that great. We left *cringe* 11 runners on base, and were only 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position. At one point, we left the bases loaded. Kyle Blanks got thrown out at the plate. We were not getting that clutch hit, and that was a problem.

In the bottom of the eigth, Will Venable got a triple. Jerry Hairston sac-flied him in to tie the game.

Luke Gregerson threw two fantastic innings after Wade left the game. Heath Bell got the top of the ninth, and, for once, he didn’t allow a hit. He did allow a walk, though, so he’s still up to his “I have to make everything interesting” act.

In the bottom of the ninth, it was time to get this game wrapped up. Extra innings are super annoying, and besides, there’s no time like the present. You know how those extra inning-ers go: the longer the game gets, the harder the guys press to get it over and nothing happens for a really long time. Sure, those games are fun sometimes, but they should be avoided at all costs. Thankfully, we did not have to drift into the land of extra innings last night.

Lance Zawadski started off the inning with a walk. Tony Gwynn sac-bunted Lance over to second. David Eckstein, who had been caught stealing earlier in the game, flew out to left field. Adrian Gonzalez was intentionally walked, which was very expected, to try to get to Chase Headley.

Wrong move, buddy.

Chase has been in that situation a lot, and he’s really taken the most advantage of it. Hahahaha when are they ever going to learn? Chase is going to come through for us. Maybe he wouldn’t have last year, but that was then. Now, he’s going to come through and send everyone home happy…everyone except Jim Tracy, that is.

After taking a ball in the dirt, Chase sent a single out to right field that Carlos Gonzalez didn’t even bother to retrieve. Lance scored, and the Padres won the game!!

What a great game of baseball. Amazing pitching, tons of suspense, and some good offense. Unfortunately, the Padres had a lot of little blunders, but at least they were able to win the game.

Besides Chase Headley, there was another player in this game who did extremely well. I’m telling you, this might have been the best pickup of the off-season: Jerry Hairston Jr. He’s been extremely valuable, especially in the field. Absolutely amazing. Shortstop is in good hands while E-Cab’s on the DL. No worries there. Last night he had a hit and drove in two runs.

You know what I realized last night? I realized that Kyle Blanks is not a natual outfield. I think that kind of got lost in the shuffle here. The guy’s a first baseman, and he’s doing an amazing job out there. He’s got zero errors and 30 putouts. I guess I feel like his switch from infield to outfield wasn’t as publicized as Chase’s was. Anyways, keep up the great work out there, Kyle.

Chase is doing amazing, and it’s soooo good to see. We’ve really been needing a guy who can threaten pitchers enough that they don’t walk Adrian to try to get to him. It might take a while to get that into pitcher’s heads, but hopefully Chase keeps that success and really does turn into a threat behind Adrian. He certainly did the job last night.

Very well played game by my boys last night. Let’s win this series tonight!! GO CLAYTON RICHARD!!

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